Quebec Felix Auger-Aliassim won the last chapter of his battle with fellow Canadian Denis Shapovalov, winning 6-2 6-3 in the third round match at the Barcelona Championship on Thursday.
The winner only needed an hour and 19 minutes to reach the quarter-finals as they faced Stephanos Tsitsipas, the world’s fifth and second favorite of the tournament. The Greek defeated Australian Alex de Minor in two sets 7-5 and 6-3 later in the day.
Auger Alissim, 20e In the world, this is the third win in five professional encounters against 14th-ranked ATP-ranked Ontario. The 20-year-old Quebec won his two matches on clay against Shapovalov in the ring.
Auger-Aliassime took advantage of his opponent’s serving problem, who had particularly made six double faults, to break four times in nine attempts. Quebec had 60 out of the 98 points he played and won 78% of the points he played in his first serve, compared to 63% for Shapovalov.
“I’m really happy with that victory today. Dennis is still a strong opponent. We all know how he can play well. We’ve had tough fights in the past. I was expecting a tough match and I was well prepared.” Quebec said in a TSN interview: “I felt good physically “.
“I think it was one of the best matches I have played against him. I was very strong and not broken. It was a very good match.”
not easy
Auger-Aliassime is now preparing for another big challenge against Tsitsipas, last week’s Monte-Carlo Tournament winner. Despite winning three of his five encounters against Quebec, the 22-year-old Greek is extremely wary of him.
“I didn’t play against him on the clay,” Tsitsipas said of his next opponent. He is a player who has performed really well in recent years and is on his peak now. I’m ready for the next battle, the next difficulty and can’t wait to play against Felix. “